Does blood pressure rise because of age — or something else?

Among people in the United States and other westernized countries, blood pressure readings tend to rise with age. But a new study suggests that’s not true for the Yanomami, a tribe of hunter-gatherer-gardeners living in a remote Venezuelan rain forest.

Researchers measured blood pressure in 72 Yanomami people and 83 people from a nearby tribe, the Yekwana. The people ranged in age from 1 to 60 years old. The Yekwana have been slightly “westernized,” thanks to missionaries and an airstrip that allows for occasional deliveries of processed food and salt.

The Yanomami had no age-related rise in blood pressure. But the Yekwana’s blood pressure readings began rising during childhood — by about a quarter of a point per year, on average. As the authors suggest, “a rise in blood pressure may not be natural but rather a consequence of unnatural Western exposures.” The study was published online Nov. 14, 2018, by JAMA Cardiology.

Genesis
39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because
the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.

Joshua 1:7 “Only
be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which
Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the
left, so that you may have success wherever you go.

2 Chronicles
20:20 They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa;
and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, O Judah
and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will
be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed.”

2 Chronicles
26:5 He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding
through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered
him.

Ecclesiastes
11:6 Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do
not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of
them alike will be good.

Proverbs
16:3 Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.

Esther 8:15 Then
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and
white, with a large crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and
the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.

Deuteronomy
29:9 “So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper
in all that you do.